Most Healthy Alcoholic Beverage

[JS19]

Anyone know of one? I don't mean healthy as in healthy for your liver and all that mumbo jumbo, but one with the least amount of carbs/calories/sugars....I have a semi-strict diet/workout plan, but i'm not gonna lie, I sure do love to throw a few back every now and then.

[jbergey22]

Straight Liquor! No mixers

OR

using diet 7up as a mixer

[Lathum]

bacardi and diet

[oliegirl]

Beer, b/c it has wheat in it...you know, whole grains are healthy and all that ;)

WW's point system is based on a equation that takes into consideration calories, carbs, sugar, etc...thus, the lower all those number, the lower the point value...here is a website that has the calorie content and point value for alcoholic beverages...

hxxp://www.freewebs.com/tink24neverland/dairyideasboozepoints.htm

[Zelig]

Whatever the lady is having....

scoreboard

[sabotai]

I don't know about how it rates with carbs/sugars/calories (there is a LOT that goes into how healthy something is than just calories), but red wine shows up on quite a few lists of healthy things to drink.

[CU Tiger]

for carbs sugars etc...Bacardi has no sugar and less than 1 carb per serving...

[PilotMan]

I would say that the healthiest would be Red Wine. The anti-oxidents and the heart benefits outweight emptiness of whatever else is out there.

[korme]

OMGZ ITS A UB40 PARTY

[Fidatelo]

Mmmm, Shiraz...

[cartman]

Just drink until you throw up, and voila! No calories to worry about.

[Dunleavy]

what kind of drink isn't so fattening? half a drink ;)

but i'd cast my vote for Red Wine

[bryce]

Beck's Light has the fewest calories of a beer I know of (64), and it's delicious, to boot!

[MikeVick7]

Vodka soda

[pennywisesb]

Bacardi and Diet gets my vote or just drink light beers.

[Horizon]

Straight Liquor! No mixers

This is the correct answer as anything over 40 percent has no NET calories. Your body burns more calories processing the alcohaul than there are in the drink. The higher the alcohaul percentage the more calories that are burnt.



A rum and Coke Zero is a great calorie free drink.

[Icy]

If you really want the alcohol, then this won't work, if you want the taste, non alchool beer is the more healthy beverage as it has all the benefits of beer without the alcohol. Nothing beats a cold non alcohol beer after doing exercise, the mineral salts help a lot the post exercise recovery.

[A-Husker-4-Life]

Vodka soda

+1

[like a dog]

This is the correct answer as anything over 40 percent has no NET calories. Your body burns more calories processing the alcohaul than there are in the drink. The higher the alcohaul percentage the more calories that are burnt.



A rum and Coke Zero is a great calorie free drink.

This is an utter and complete falsehood. Do not listen to this man/woman/internet denizen.

[BigDPW]

Alcohol itself has calories as well... Everyone seems to forget this and worries all about carbs/sugars.

[BigDPW]

Dola helpful links...

http://www.rochester.edu/uhs/healthtopics/Alcohol/caloricvalues.html

http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/CollegeStudents/calculator/alcoholcalc.aspx

http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/calories/calorie_counter/alcohol.htm

http://www.beer100.com/beercalories.htm

[terpkristin]

I looked up a bunch of liquors and liquers at http://www.calorieking.com
Jack Daniels, Bacardi Superior, Smirnoff Red Label, generic Bourbon, Crown Royal, all of them had about 95-100 calories per 1.5 oz shot.
Amaretto has about 120 (not surprising that it's more caloric).
Captain Morgan Spiced Rum (70 proof) has 87 calories, but also has a couple carbs. Silver spiced rum has more calories and carbs, Private Stock even more than that.

So if you can't stand light beer, a jack and diet or rum and diet or vodka diet will probably be your best bet...

/tk

[JeeberD]

for carbs sugars etc...Bacardi has no sugar and less than 1 carb per serving...


I've never understood this...rum is MADE from sugar cane. How does it not have any sugar/calories?

[Vegas Vic]

I've never understood this...rum is MADE from sugar cane. How does it not have any sugar/calories?

The sugar is lost during the distillation process.

[JeeberD]

Then why isn't that the case for most liquors? Shouldn't vodka, gin, whiskey, etc be in the same boat?

[Horizon]

I've never understood this...rum is MADE from sugar cane. How does it not have any sugar/calories?
Liquor does contain carlories, but the body burns so many calories trying to process the alcohaul that it has a NET of zero calories. There are many "green" foods out there that also have this Zero Net calorie thing to. Like, the more celery you eat the more weight you will lose, because your body burn more calories digesting the food than the food conatains.

Anything over 40% alcohaul has zero NET calories.

[Sgran]

http://www.beveragedaily.com/news/ng.asp?n=83239-polyphenols-red-wine-heart-health

Researchers at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre of the Toronto General Hospital conducted a study on thirteen volunteers to test whether red wine (javascript:KeywordSearch('KEYWORDS=red+wine&period=all&inner=1');), proven to be high in polyphenols (javascript:KeywordSearch('KEYWORDS=polyphenols&period=all&inner=1');), differed to other alcoholic drinks in affecting heart health (javascript:KeywordSearch('KEYWORDS=heart+health&period=all&inner=1');).

According to the research, red wine and alcohol consumption were found to have virtually identical impact on health, with one drink of either substance helping to reduce the work rate of the heart.

The findings, which are published in the February edition of the American Journal of Physiology, Heart and Circulatory Physiology, could challenge the perception that polyphenol content of red wine is responsible for cardiovascular benefits.

Red wine has been linked to extended survival rates of mice and prevented the negative effects of high-calorie diets, in other testing, due to the presence of the polyphenol, resveratrol.

The study, supported by Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, was conducted therefore to better understand the link between health benefits and moderate red wine consumption.

With population surveys linking lower levels of heart disease to European countries with high-fat diets that also regularly consumed red wine, researchers hoped the testing could better explain this so-called "French paradox."

An occasional single serving of red wine, like any other alcoholic beverage was found to improve heart health, according to the researchers.

The study said this was the result of alcohol's relaxing affect on blood vessels. However, after a second drink the heart rate, amount of blood being pumped in the body, and sympathetic nervous system action all increased, the study said.

At this point, researchers said that blood vessels became less able to expand in response to increased blood flow, reversing any beneficial effects obtained by a consumer after a single serving of wine or alcohol.
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Researcher Dr. John Floras said that findings from the testing had thrown up some unexpected results.

"We had anticipated that many of the effects of one ethanol drink would be enhanced by red wine," he stated. "What was most surprising was how similar the effects were of red wine and ethanol."

Floras added that that the American Heart Association (AHA) did not recommend consuming a single red wine or alcoholic drink as a means of improving hearth health, as long-term affects of continued consumption were unknown.

"Our findings point to a slight beneficial effect of one drink - be it alcohol or red wine - on the heart and blood vessels, whereas two or more drinks would seem to turn on systems that stress the circulation," he stated. "If these actions are repeated frequently because of high alcohol consumption these effects may expose individuals to a higher risk of heart attacks, stroke or chronic high blood pressure."

All 13 participants in the study were aged between 24 to 47 years of age.

These respondents, consisting of a group of seven males and six females, were all selected as healthy non-smokers, who were neither heavy drinkers or abstainers.

The participants attended three separate morning sessions in which they consumed a set standard drink of red wine, ethanol or water on a random, single-blind basis, two weeks apart. The standard drink was a either a 4 ounce (120ml) serving of red wine or a 1.5 ounce (44ml) spirits shot.

The wine used in the trial was a moderately priced pinot noir with a verified high t-resveratrol content, selected by The Quality Assurance Laboratory of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, the researchers said.

Source: American Journal of Physiology, Heart and Circulatory Physiology,
Volume 294, Pages 605-612, doi:10.1152/ajpheart.01162.2007
"Dose-related effects of red wine and alcohol on hemodynamics, sympathetic nerve activity, and arterial diameter"
Authors: John S. Floras, Jonas Spaak, Anthony C. Merlocco, et al.